Holly, Amelia, Laura

Our finished film

Monday, February 2, 2009

Oh, what a sad day.Blogging for this project has been amazingly enjoyable, completely unlike any other coursework experience: it's colourful, creative and interactive. I'll really truly miss it.I think in our blog a clear passion comes across for film...we all loved the subject matter.Talking of 'we': Amelia and Laura, you've both been amazing partners, I was so lucky to be in your group, you were so supportive and if any problem came along, I could count on you to help.Goodbye huge-chunk-of-my-life's consumption....I will miss you!Lots of Love,Holly x

Its been so great, I've loved every second of it(Even the moments i hated)

Thanks laura and holly for being such wicked group members and getting everything done. Cheers blogger for excepting our insane amounts of blogs and coping well. Cheers Mrs T and Mrs B for putting up with us and uor ridiculous requests/complaints

So this is the deadline for our blog...I had originally thought that we would sign off together as a group, but I've actually been snowed in, so it's lucky my coursework is all online! SNOW SNOW SNOW.

Holly and Amelia, just wanna say, you guys have been amazing. I've had so much fun on shoots, planning, editing and everything! Even when we were getting bogged down with paperwork, we still managed to enjoy ourselves, resulting in producing a really good opening sequence!And of course, thanks to miss T, miss B and Deansy (new nickname for the technician), they've helped us throughout the whole process, and it would have been impossible without them.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Our treatment was yped up from the document we hand-wrote in december...1. The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens (discovery of a body, an illicit meeting, a witness seeing a crime being committed, a criminal act taking place, a telephone call, a chase, a short journey etc)?

Our idea for our opening sequence isbased around a computer (instant messaging) conversation between a young teenage girl and two older men. The identity of the men is kept mysterious, so the conversation is being interpreted in two different ways; the audience knows the truth, but our current heroin, the girl, does not. This is the first part of the action, as the second is more fast-paced of the men packing up their "kill kit" and getting ready to leave their flat to do murder. The rest of the film will be based around a detective tracing internet clues of the men to try and find them, and of more killings, more suicide notes and crime scenes. We would want to keep the rest of the film fast and montagey, mixed with slow suspense-building scenes, to create a nice contrast.

2. The theme(s): what should it make the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise (revenge, sexuality, voyeurism, stalking, obsession, greed etc)?

Our main themes are depression, sexual stalking and investigating. In our film as a whole, we wanted to create a continuous sense of being watched, of searching for clues and of knowing that there was so much that you didn't know - danger could be just around the corner. To convey this in the opening sequence, we will leave our main murderer's identity ambiguos, and make it clear to the audience that the girl has no idea what she was getting herself into. We will also make it clear that the issue of internet safety will be a central one during the film, as it is the first thing we will open with.

3. The narrative: how is it structured - classic narrative pattern or break with convention, real time or different time zones, flashbacks/forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non-diegetic sound?

We have not chosen a classic narrative pattern as we begin with disruption, breaking you usual convention of beginning with safety and then straying into danger. However we have chosen to shoot in a linear, real-time way, with no flashbacks and crosscutting between a real time conversation, as memories do not feature as an important part in our plot. We want to include dialogue for most of the sequence to show cross-cutting techniques, and this forms the main base of our storyline, too. All the sound, apart from the music, will b e diegetic.

4. The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?

Emma: female, 17 years old, white, pretty teenage girl. She is clearly sweet and typically girly in her pink room, but very fragile (in tears) and expresses whiney desire to kill herself. She is the victim."Julie": male, 24 years old, half-black & half-white, well-built man. He is the clever, cunning man of the operation who lures girls into his clutches by wooing them. He wears a mysterious black coat and has deeply thoughtful eyes.Man 2: male, 53, white, very tall and fairly stocky man. He wears all-black, black leather coat and a black hat, looking very thugish and does not smile. His voice is harsh and merciless. He is the muscle of the opperation, killing the victims.

5. The setting and choice of location: where is it set?

Our first setting is 'Emma's' bedroom, where she taps away on her computer. We will use Laura's actual bedroom to shoot this. The second location is the men's flat, where they talk to the women and get ready to find them. We can shoot this in Laura's art studio, which is perfectly dark and cobwebby.

The girl's part will be very pink, saturated, girly and inviting, with lots of pink fluffy pillows and her wearing jeans and a pink top. In contrast to this, the men's flat is dingy, dark, dusty and ominous. Their clothes are black and concealing, they see by desk lamp and hanging lightbulb, and there is a nearly-finished bottle of whisky on the table. We will see flashes of knives being sharpened, tape and matches, all being piled into a black suitcase. The lighting will also be very pale and ghostly.

7. The camera work: the style you are aiming for

We have decided to shoot in a range of angles, including CU's, LS's, sutch tilts and shakey P.O.V angles. This will give a sense of being watched, of a webcam, and be slightly disorientating. Only some shots will be static and normal.8. The editing: edited as a continuous sequence, use of cross cutting, use of montage, or combination?

We will have a continuous sequence and then move into a montage at the end, to pick up the pace, and at the same time pick up the music. This is when the action begins. Before this, we will use crosscutting between the two screens and cutaways.

9. Has your idea been ‘tested’ against the key criteria (the 8 questions)?

Yes - we were able to answer yes to every question.

10. Group responses?

We had two other strong ideas that we could have moved forward with, but we all agree that this idea is the strongest. We are all excited about the uniqueness of the idea and the opportunity to shoot in some quirky,unconventional angles.

11. Teacher responses?

Great idea - original and chilling. But be careful to loeave enough time to film both sets of footage (male part and female part). Also careful of continuity between the two.